


Master of Me

by thesometimeswarrior



Series: Two Hundred Words for Two Hundred Fics! A Celebratory Fic Prompt-Fest! [1]
Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Canon Compliant, Double Drabble, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Post-Episode s05e29-32 Change Your Mind
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-10
Updated: 2019-12-10
Packaged: 2021-02-25 21:14:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 200
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21742027
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thesometimeswarrior/pseuds/thesometimeswarrior
Summary: "What does itmean? Freedom?"
Relationships: Pearl & Yellow Diamond's Pearl (Steven Universe)
Series: Two Hundred Words for Two Hundred Fics! A Celebratory Fic Prompt-Fest! [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1567093
Comments: 14
Kudos: 65





	Master of Me

**Author's Note:**

  * For [PearlDefiance](https://archiveofourown.org/users/PearlDefiance/gifts).



> **Prompt:** Pearl telling/teaching the other Pearls (any or all of them) something about living on Earth and/or freedom?
> 
> (Title from _Steven Universe: The Movie_ )

“What does it _mean_? Freedom?”

“That’s rather a complicated question,” Pearl responds coolly. But when she looks up—expecting to see a sanctimonious smirk on Yellow’s face, like she always had in that long-ago era _before_ —she’s taken by surprise. 

Yellow radiates nervous energy that she would clearly rather hide, the way she tenses and un-tenses her fingers in a mannerism that’s so intimately familiar. Shifts her weight from foot to foot, as though she can’t quite determine how to stand in this new reality, without a Diamond at the center of her universe around whom to revolve.

It’s an untethering, Pearl remembers. It had been _terrifying_ , even for her, for whom at least the theoretical idea had been exhilarating. And until Steven’s reforms, Yellow had never even _considered_ the possibility…

Pearl softens. Lays a hand on her counterpart's shoulder. “Do you remember the feeling when you knew you’d made your Diamond happy?”

“ _Yes_!” 

“Freedom means that you get to grant _yourself_ that feeling.”

Yellow’s eyes teeter between wonder and terror. “ _How_?” 

It had taken Pearl millennia to answer this question, but now she finds that she has a response ready on her tongue:

“That’s what you’re allowed to _learn_.”

**Author's Note:**

> This is the first in a series of double drabbles I'm writing to celebrate having written 200 fics on ao3! 
> 
> I'm accepting prompts in the following fandoms: 
> 
> 1) Steven Universe  
> 2) Avatar: The Last Airbender  
> 3) Harry Potter  
> 4) Tanakh or Talmud
> 
> I have a few specifications for things that I will and won't write. Please click [here](https://runrundoyourstuff.tumblr.com/post/189378264394/exciting-fic-announcement) for more info!


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